Wii U Arrives in United States on November 18

Nintendo of America has announced a release date for Wii U in the United States, and it's November 18. It doesn't launch in Japan until December 8, but Nintendo launched the original Wii first outside of Japan, too.

There are two sets. The basic set includes a Wii U, Game Pad, Game Pad charging cable, AC adaptor, HDMI cable, sensor bar and 8GB of memory. The "deluxe" set also includes 32GB of memory, a Game Pad charging cable, Game Pad cradle, a copy of NintendoLand, and enrollment in a premium service on Nintendo Direct, where you earn points for each purchase and can redeem them later for other purchases.

The big question? Price. It's $299 for the basic set, and $349 for the deluxe set.

Project P-100, also from Platinum Games, was easily one of the most exciting Wii U games at E3, and that's been renamed The Wonderful 101. Spoiler: still looks awesome. Epic Mickey 2 will also be receiving a Wii U upgrade, and Activision made the clutch announcement of Skylanders Giants. Nintendo didn't discuss the NFC features baked into the Game Pad, though, so one might expect that will still have a separate device to scan the characters in.

Nintendo broke down the hilariously large "launch window" for Wii U, as well: November 18 until the end of March. Besides New Super Mario Bros. U and NintendoLand, the company wasn't confirming release dates, but since Pikmin 3 isn't coming out until next spring in Japan, I wouldn't expect it over here this year, either.

In America, Nintendo spent the most time going over its big media initiative, Nintendo TVii. It aggregates content services--Amazon, Hulu Plus, etc.--and allows users to search, track, purchase, and play content from them on the Game Pad and the TV. There's a neat dynamic between the Game Pad and TV, too. The Game Pad takes screen captures of what's happening on TV, and allows users to comment and share on Facebook and Twitter. You also have access to your DVR through the Game Pad, though right now, that seems to mean TiVO-only devices.

Nintendo TVii launches alongside the device this year, but only in the United States and Canada.

The company also unveiled a strange interface for Nintendo TVii. Maybe it'll make more sense in our hands?

Over in Japan, there were some big announcements that should guarantee some folks on day one (like, say, 8-4). In addition to an even more deluxe package that comes with a Pro controller and a copy of Monster Hunter Ultimate, anyone who buys the premium version of the console also gains an invite to the upcoming beta for Dragon Quest X.

Nintendo of America has announced a release date for Wii U in the United States, and it's November 18. It doesn't launch in Japan until December 8, but Nintendo launched the original Wii first outside of Japan, too.

There are two sets. The basic set includes a Wii U, Game Pad, Game Pad charging cable, AC adaptor, HDMI cable, sensor bar and 8GB of memory. The "deluxe" set also includes 32GB of memory, a Game Pad charging cable, Game Pad cradle, a copy of NintendoLand, and enrollment in a premium service on Nintendo Direct, where you earn points for each purchase and can redeem them later for other purchases.

The big question? Price. It's $299 for the basic set, and $349 for the deluxe set.

Project P-100, also from Platinum Games, was easily one of the most exciting Wii U games at E3, and that's been renamed The Wonderful 101. Spoiler: still looks awesome. Epic Mickey 2 will also be receiving a Wii U upgrade, and Activision made the clutch announcement of Skylanders Giants. Nintendo didn't discuss the NFC features baked into the Game Pad, though, so one might expect that will still have a separate device to scan the characters in.

Nintendo broke down the hilariously large "launch window" for Wii U, as well: November 18 until the end of March. Besides New Super Mario Bros. U and NintendoLand, the company wasn't confirming release dates, but since Pikmin 3 isn't coming out until next spring in Japan, I wouldn't expect it over here this year, either.

In America, Nintendo spent the most time going over its big media initiative, Nintendo TVii. It aggregates content services--Amazon, Hulu Plus, etc.--and allows users to search, track, purchase, and play content from them on the Game Pad and the TV. There's a neat dynamic between the Game Pad and TV, too. The Game Pad takes screen captures of what's happening on TV, and allows users to comment and share on Facebook and Twitter. You also have access to your DVR through the Game Pad, though right now, that seems to mean TiVO-only devices.

Nintendo TVii launches alongside the device this year, but only in the United States and Canada.

The company also unveiled a strange interface for Nintendo TVii. Maybe it'll make more sense in our hands?

Over in Japan, there were some big announcements that should guarantee some folks on day one (like, say, 8-4). In addition to an even more deluxe package that comes with a Pro controller and a copy of Monster Hunter Ultimate, anyone who buys the premium version of the console also gains an invite to the upcoming beta for Dragon Quest X.

Man I kind of bought the 3DS for myself and my brother because I felt sorry for Nintendo but I just can't do it anymore. So long Nintendo, looking forward to seeing your games on the next Playstation and Xbox.

Only reason I'm considering picking one up is because I'm leaving my Wii with my parents, and this is supposed to carry over all your purchased Wii digital content. But without any games that I give a rat's ass about at launch, I can probably hold off til next year.

8GB and 32GB? How can you claim, "yeah we're into people downloading games", and yet offer so little space. Think in terms of xbla/psn games. That's 3 dlc games on the standard model, (remember when companies list the HDD space the device usually takes up some space for the OS), and 12 on the premium one. That's not even including patches, DLC for retail games and DLC games. Lets not forget that Nintendo claims to be offering all retail games as day 1 digital buys. WTF. Six years ago when Sony released their PS3's the cheapest SKU had 20GB. That was six years ago. Microsoft and Sony both offer models starting at more than 100GB for less than the price if the Wii-U. That pathetic HDD space is a big middle finger to small game makers.

As I said in the Japanese launch news post (probably more appropriate here,) for 350, they'll have to have some really awesome games at launch to sell me on it before. 250 was more what I was looking to pay. (Not even considering getting the 300 dollar unit, 8GB is just... man. Not like 32 is good, but at least it'll have some room for a few digital games.)

I still cannot understand the purpose of the Wii U. The premise of the pad and just HD graphics are not very good selling points to me. I am just hoping that Nintendo is not shooting themselves in the foot when Microsoft and Sony will announce a next generation console. Or the mythical "Steam Box" comes into reality to push these three to a next generation platform.

I grew up with Nintendo; had fun times in my childhood and only wish them the best. Sadly, I will be saving up my money this go around for a new Gaming PC.